Living in the Image of God M04S03
Christ teaching in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats and an earlier message through Prophet Isaiah provide an understanding of the individual responsibility in a call to compassion. When God directs a person to an opportunity to provide goods or service to benefit others in need, he calls the person to recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to contributing goods or service to alleviate the need, and persevere in seeking to contribute. He promises blessing for those that complete their responsibility in a call to compassion but punishment for those that decline theirs.
We discuss Christ teaching in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31–46) and an earlier message through Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 58:7–9) to understand the individual responsibility in a call to compassion. As we discuss in previous studies (e.g., Responsibility in Call to Compassion), a call to compassion is when God directs a person’s attention to the need of another person less able to provide for the need. Through the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Christ defines the individual responsibility in a call to compassion: recognize the need and needy, care about the needy, be motivated by care to commit to contributing goods or service to alleviate the need, and persevere in seeking to contribute.
He uses the parable to provide a message of people serving God by serving other people. He categorizes as righteous, people that serve God by providing goods or service to benefit other people in need: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” [Matthew 25:40]. Also, he uses the parable to explain that a person declines a call to serve God when he or she declines assistance to another person in need: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” [Matthew 25:45]. Regarding a call to compassion, the phrase “the least of these” means the needy (i.e., a person that has a need but is less able to provide for the need).
God promises blessing for those that complete their responsibility in a call to compassion: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” [Matthew 25:34] (also, see his promise in Isaiah 58:8–9). In contrast, he promises punishment for the others (i.e., those that decline responsibility in a call to compassion): “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” [Matthew 25:41].
Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Christ describes the binary categorization of people at final judgment, as righteous or others (not-righteous); based on how they respond to opportunities to provide goods or service to benefit other people in need. He describes the opportunities in terms of basic needs: such as food and drink, shelter, clothing, and community interactions.
The Righteous
He categorizes as righteous those that recognize the need and provide goods or service to alleviate the need. That means they recognize the need and needy, care about the needy, are motivated by care to commit to contributing goods or service as they can to alleviate the need, and persevere in seeking to contribute: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” [Matthew 25:35-36]. Further, Christ uses the Samaritan in the Parable of the Good Samaritan to illustrate the typical response of the righteous in a call to compassion (Luke 10:33–35).
The Others
The others consist of people that refuse to do what they can to alleviate a need that God has directed to them. Either they fail to recognize the need, or they recognize but refuse to contribute as they can: “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me” [Matthew 25:42-43]. Christ categorizes them as not-righteous. Further, he uses the Levite and the Priest in the Parable of the Good Samaritan to illustrate their response (Luke 10:31–32).
Serving God through People
Christ uses the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats to provide a message of people serving God by serving other people. He categorizes as righteous, people that serve God by providing goods or service to benefit other people in need: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” [Matthew 25:40]. Also, he uses the parable to explain that a person declines a call to serve God when he or she declines assistance to another person in need: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” [Matthew 25:45].
Complexity of the Need
In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Christ describes a call to compassion in terms of basic needs: food and drink, shelter, clothing, and community interactions. He explains the individual responsibility by pairing each need with the goods or service provided to alleviate the need (e.g., “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat”). To understand better, each of the statements of need and what was done to alleviate the need (Matthew 25:35–36) can be paraphrased as: I directed your attention to a need and you did what you could to alleviate the need.
The need could be basic, as the examples he uses in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats; or more complex, such as the need of the man beaten by robbers in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–35). His message of individual responsibility applies to every need, because even complex needs can be disaggregated into basic needs. Therefore, in every case, focus on contributing as your heart leads you, irrespective of the complexity of the need.
Message of Compassion through Isaiah
Several generations before he came to human life as Christ, God sent a message through Prophet Isaiah that human-to-human compassion is more important to him than people tearing themselves up in fasting: “Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood” [Isaiah 58:7]? The message essentially is that an act of compassion is more important to God than fasting. Further, the message added that he rewards a person for doing what they can to alleviate the needs of others less able than they [Isaiah 58:8–9]: “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: ‘Here am I.’”
Individual Responsibility
Christ defines the individual responsibility in a call to compassion by describing what God expects of the call recipient. A call to compassion means that God directs a person to an opportunity to provide goods or service to benefit a person less able. The needy is a person that has a need but is less able to provide for the need, i.e., the intended beneficiary in a call to compassion.
In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Christ describes the individual responsibility of the call recipient: recognize the need and needy, care about the needy, be motivated by care to commit to contributing goods or service to alleviate the need, and persevere in seeking to contribute. That is: recognize, care, commit, and persevere. God rewards those that complete their individual responsibility in a call to compassion. He punishes those that decline theirs.
Summary of What We Learned
Christ teaching in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats and an earlier message through Prophet Isaiah provide an understanding of the individual responsibility in a call to compassion. When God directs a person to an opportunity to provide goods or service to benefit others in need, he calls the person to recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to contributing goods or service to alleviate the need, and persevere in seeking to contribute. He promises blessing for those that complete their responsibility in a call to compassion but punishment for those that decline theirs.